Somewhere, there's a historic Hutchinson buffalo head mount.

I've done a significant amount of research trying to answer this Ask Hutch question, to no avail.

Q: According to a book I read, there was a giant buffalo head in the Bisonte Hotel. It was sold in two auctions, with terms it couldn't leave Hutch. Who has it and where is it?

A: I have no idea. The American Legion has no idea. Neither does the Reno County Museum.

Here is what I do know.

Built in 1908, the Bisonte Hotel was one of 84 Fred Harvey facilities. Harvey was known for providing high-quality meals and first-class service at his Harvey Houses, constructed near railroad stations.

Locals named the hotel Bisonte - Spanish for bison - for the immense mounds of American bison bones that were left on the land next to the Santa Fe tracks awaiting shipment.

Therefore, it's no surprise that a trademark buffalo head stared down from above the fireplace in the upscale hotel.

According to our archives, the American Legion took over the establishment in 1946. The Legion turned the hotel into apartments in the 1960s, and then in 1964 and 1965, it was razed for a proposed three-story Holiday Inn.

The Holiday Inn never materialized, but a Ramada Inn eventually was built on the site.

An article in The News stated the Legion sold the buffalo head at auction for $32.50 shortly before the demolition.

According to Pat Mitchell's "The Fair City: Postcard Views of Hutchinson, KS," the head sold again at auction in 1981, for $75, with the same stipulation that was in place the first time the mount changed hands - that it remain in Hutchinson.

That's where the trail ends.

Hutchinson American Legion Cmdr. John Rust did some research, which led me to member and former Cmdr. J.B. Holdren, better known as the Kansas State Fair sign painter Bardo the Clown.

Holdren said he recalled the buffalo head being auctioned but never knew what happened to it. He also wonders what happened to two Birger Sandzen paintings that once hung in the Bisonte, an oil and a watercolor.

Jerry Round, owner of Antique Mall in Galva who was visiting Holdren late last week, said a Sandzen watercolor would sell today for $20,000 to $30,000. A Sandzen oil might sell as high as $50,000.

Round said he sold a buffalo head mount for $750 at his shop eight years ago but added that a historical mount would bring more.

Maybe the buffalo head will turn up again someday if the owner didn't bury it in some landfill or move it out of state.

I grew up in Hutch in the 60s. We belonged to the Dolphin Swim Club on the west side of town. Whatever happened to it? Do you have any photos of it?

This one I can answer, thanks to our new digital online archives.

A community building is on top of the former pool, known in recent years as the Rice Park pool.

The Dolphin Swim Club opened in 1960 at 1801 Swarens St. It touted a swimming pool heater that allowed members to swim in the fall months. In the 1970 season, an advertisement in The News listed membership costs at $57.50 for a family. Single membership was $37.50.

The club closed when that season ended. According to a newspaper story, the facility eventually sold at a sheriff's sale for $16,301.

In late 1971, the city of Hutchinson received a federal grant to buy and rehabilitate the club and its 24 acres adjacent to the pool for a northwest park. The grants were $25,108 for the land and $31,210 for the swimming pool purchase and renovation. Recreation Superintendent Les Keller reported at the time that a new pool would cost $100,000 to $125,000 to build.

When the pool opened again in 1973, Hutchinson had three swimming pools: Rice Park, Carey Park and the fairgrounds. They no longer exist, replaced in 2000 by the $3.1 million Salt City Splash Aquatic Center in Carey Park and a water play park at the fairgrounds park.

As for photos, I'm sure there are some in the digital newspaper archives or the microfilm archives at the Hutchinson Public Library. Actual hard copies of the photos, however, were thrown away years ago.

Why on Friday during school, Sept. 18, did they do concrete work at 13th Avenue and Severance Street, which required them to close Severance at 11th Street during the fair and during a school day? Why couldn't they do it at night or over the weekend?

"Construction on a project the magnitude of Hutchinson High School is not unlike a massive multidimensional chess board that's being played out in the elements," said school district spokesman Ray Hemman. "The pouring of concrete is just one of many chess moves that must be orchestrated in the construction of HHS or any other building."

Hemman said the project has encountered several rain delays this summer and soon will be up against winter weather. In an ideal world, he said, this part of the project would have taken place earlier in the summer.

Meanwhile, weekends are not possible since many of the trades involved in the construction work Monday through Friday.

Additionally, Hemman said, crews aren't able to work late at night because the school and facilities are in or adjacent to residential neighborhoods.

"During the summer, one contractor did end up doing outdoor work until 9:30 one night on the front of the old auditorium at HHS, and neighbors complained about the noise," he said. "We do our best to be good neighbors."

As for the closing of Severance, it was closely coordinated with the Hutchinson Police Department, with the closure happening as early as possible.

The police department worked with the district to map out a detour, he noted.

"In all, the inconvenience lasted about five hours, from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. Friday."

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